CMU School of Drama


Friday, December 01, 2017

Best Projection Mapping Software and Hardware for <$1,000

projection-mapping.org: This is in response to a 2015 Article entitled “Which Projection Mapping Software.” In the last article MadMapper (Mac) and Touch Designer (PC) came out on top, but so much has changed since then, it’s time for fresh perspective.

3 comments:

Shahzad Khan said...

This article is particularly relevant to me as the other day I was mapping images on to a small screen installation for a basic design project. I'm surprised that an app like millumin, which I used the other day wasn't listed. It was a fairly easy software to use, though it didn't give me a the exact image I wanted, and it has a capability to hit a plethora of surfaces. The more I look at these, the more interested I am in exploring other mapping tools to achieve the affects I want in different situation. I am also excited to maybe try and use a new device called light form, that auto maps to surfaces and fully interacts with the surface that the projection is already mapped on. I wish that something as simple and common as mapping wasn't so expensive, I really don't understand why people spend that much money on a software that simply plays an image, I think that its time someone makes a cheaper alternative that can achieve the same thing, because I believe that media is an under appreciated art form and more people would do it if it weren't so expensive.

Beck Lazansky said...

I have not seen or used any of these programs while here, but I am interested to try them out. I was in the media stagecraft rotation last mini and have continued interest in media design, and these programs could be very useful to me in the future. I like articles that give information like this about software and make it accessible to everyone. Software is expensive to begin with, and buying software that isn’t worth it can be a waste of money. However, sometimes it is also difficult to compile reviews and information about a variety of software, so making this list is really nice. I also appreciate that the article mentions the system, Mac OS versus PC. I have a PC computer, and I’ve been told that most mapping software is made for Mac. This list however will give me access to these programs, knowing I will be able to use them.

Peter Kelly said...

I love articles like this that help you look for software and programs that do things that are typically very expensive for cheap prices, or sometimes even free. One of my favorite softwares is a 3D modeling tool called Blender, which is completely free compared to similar tools like Rhino which is almost a thousand dollars a license. I am also glad to see that we have learned to use tools in our Media Stagecraft that are on this list as well as many that are not. Having lists like this one bookmarked is a really great way to make sure that you can work under budget, or even just as a way to get friends interested in some very niche skills. Maybe I will end up getting some of these and try to teach myself on the side. But then again I am very busy just like everyone else in this program.